#handsoff #mountainview

Americans may be tempted to view Turkey’s political crisis as distant or irrelevant. But İmamoğlu’s arrest offers a warning—and perhaps even a preview—of what can unfold when institutions are hollowed out. Similar signs of democratic erosion are now emerging in the United States:

Political Dread & Personal Power: Book Talk with Özge Samancı on Evil Eyes Sea by Stanford University events.stanford.edu/event/politica… Stanford CDDRL Stanford Islamic Studies FSI Stanford

events.stanford.edu/event/politica…

Deportation as Punishment and the Everyday War on Migrants from Turkey to the United States merip.org/2025/05/deport…

A great comparative discussion of migration policy/practice similarities between two otherwise very different countries 🇺🇸 & 🇹🇷 that painfully erodes/undermines well established norms of international refugee law.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’nun hikâyesi, Türkiye’nin baskı ve dışlanmışlık yaşamış bir toplum kesiminden, devletin en önemli mali kurumuna; oradan da siyasete ve 13 yıl boyunca kurucu partinin genel başkanlığına uzanan bir yolculuktur. Bu yolculuğa her zaman saygı duydum. CHP’nin

Source of hope for disillusioned democrats, with important lessons about how to refashion democratic politics bottom up

9. "Turkey’s Hard Road to Democratic Renewal" by Ayça Alemdaroğlu #ToygarSinanBaykan #LadinBayurgil and ali şaşmaz muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/…

Before Turkey’s 2023 elections, folks on the ground and experts on hybrid regimes thought the anti-Erdoğan bloc could pull off a win. They didn’t. But a year later, the opposition crushed it in local races. What changed? This great piece digs into the local strategies—which

In the July issue of Journal of Democracy, Ayça Alemdaroğlu, Aytuğ Şaşmaz, and their co-authors explain how Turkey’s democratic future hinges on opposition parties winning local elections in unfair conditions. Read now: ow.ly/t3Aj50Wk4Wb

Historic moment for Turkish tennis 🇹🇷 World No.88 Zeynep Sonmez is the first player from Turkey to reach the third round in singles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era! #Wimbledon

How do opposition parties win elections under competitive authoritarian rule? Our new article in Journal of Democracy (Journal of Democracy) explores this question through Turkey’s 2024 local elections where the opposition made stunning gains despite systemic disadvantages.

Opposition parties worldwide can learn from this: local wins can be transformative but come with serious risks. 📄 Full article (open access until Aug): "Turkey’s Hard Road to Democratic Renewal" by Alemdaroğlu (Ayça Alemdaroğlu), Baykan, Bayurgil & Şaşmaz → muse.jhu.edu/article/964586

Two of the mayors we studied were detained 2 days after our paper was published. For me, this ongoing crackdown erases any lingering optimism that Turkey still operates as a competitive authoritarian regime and raises the urgent question: how do we emerge from this distinctly

Bugün tüm atanma kriterlerini karşılıyor olmama rağmen BÜ’ine yeniden atanmamın uygun görülmediğine dair tebligatı aldım. Sıfır gerekçe. Verilen karar siyasi olunca, gerekçesi de belirtilemiyor olsa gerek. 1/6

İmamoğlu ve onlarca CHP’li belediye başkanının hapiste tutulduğu, iktidarın ana muhalefet partisini sindirmeye çalıştığı bir ortamda, CHP’nin Meclis komisyonuna katılmasını çok ciddi bir hata olarak görüyorum. Bu, 19 Mart’tan beri yapılan en büyük stratejik yanlış olur. Eğer hâlâ